Kingdom's Tear
by Silver Fox Siren
Summary: On their first evening back in their home Sora and Riku are finaly relaxed, untill Kairi makes a startling find from the king. A race against time, missing piece, and the misterious Kingdom's tear.
1. The Beginning

Kingdom's Tear

Kingdom's Tear

Kairi raced down the docks, a bottled note from the king in her hand.

"Sora!"

She called as she reached the small island where he was sitting and talking to Riku. She stood for a moment and caught her breath, then held it out to him.

"Look."

"From the King?"

Sora stepped down and took the bottle from her. He opened it, and pulled the letter out of the sealed container. Riku smiled and stepped over so he could read it, and fearing the worst Kairi stood and read over Sora's shoulder as well. Their faces fell slowly as they reached the end of the letter.

"So the nobodies had an anker in this world as well."

Riku leaned back against the tree his brow furrowed as he said it, as Sora reread the letter, and Kairi stood looking at the ground.

"This means you two are leaving again, doesn't it? But you just got back!"

Kairi looked back up at her friends, worry in her eyes. They really had just gotten back from destroying the nobodies, and now they were about to head out again. Sora looked first to her then to Riku, and back again not knowing how to respond to her question. Riku didn't answer, but he looked up at her then to Sora.

"I'm sorry Kairi, but the King sent this to us for a reason. You stay here. Sora and I will be back soon."

Riku stood up and smiled at her reassuringly. The truth was neither of them knew what to expect. In his letter, the king wrote that though the nobodies of Organization XIII had disappeared, there was still another. It held the darkness in place, and the heartless to that world. He asked them for their help, and told them that they needed to find that nobody and destroy it, or the worlds would never be at peace. Sora moved over to hug Kairi again, then turned to Riku and nodded. Kairi let go and they took off. She held her hand up for a moment after them, then deciding she wanted them to see her smile before they left, she held up her hand and smiled and waved to them. Laughing, Riku and Sora turned around and waved good bye to her as well, then they raced down the shore and off to the main island.

"So how are we going to get there? We have no way to get off these Islands?"

Riku raced after Sora and called out to him. They made it all the way down the beach and to the ocean on the other side of the small island, when an enormous ship emerged from the sea.

"Take a guess!"

Sora skidded to a stop and grinned as Donald waved at them from the ship's main deck.

"Come on you two! Let's get a move on!"

He called out to them, as goofy released the shields. Sora smiled as Riku leapt up into the ship.

"Come on Sora! Don't keep the King waiting."

Riku held out his hand to Sora, leaning over the side of the ship. Sora's smile turned into a relaxed far off look.

"You know, we might not be back here for a while. It's hard to believe that we have to leave when we just got back."

"What are you, chicken? Come on."

Riku grinned down at him reassuringly, his hand still stretched out to Sora. He smiled and leapt up, taking Riku's hand and aloud himself to be pulled into the ship.

"Alright let's get going!"

Riku jumped in after Sora, and took his seat next to Sora's. Goofy raised the shields again, and Donald sat excitedly in his seat. The ship lifted off the glossy top of the sea and its rockets blasted it out into space. Sora looked behind them as the took of. He watched the islands get smaller then disappear.

"Good bye."


	2. A lost companion, and an Old Face

Chapter 2: A lost companion, and an Old Face

Chapter 2: A lost companion, and an Old Face

Hours had passed in their traveling, and the four companions lazed about the ship in their various places. Sora laid sideways in his chair, one leg up and the other dangling over the side. His hands were lazily folded across his chest, and he swung his free leg boredly. Riku sat in his chair, leaning to one side and fiddled with a rubber band. His eyes smiled though his face reflected boredom. Donald had his head in his hands leaning over the steering wheel of the ship, and Goofy was asleep in his chair.

"Aw come on! Are we there yet!?"

Sora sat up, frustration on his face.

"I don't think so. Be patient."

Riku half laughed at Sora as he flung the rubber band at him. Sora grumbled as it smacked his cheek, a perfect shot.

"Will you leave me alone! I'm bored! I thought the king said that there were still heartless and nobodies. Shouldn't we be under attACK!"

"Speak of the devil!"

The ship jolted forward suddenly as if something massive had collided with it. Sora flew out of his seat and onto the floor, and Riku jumped up to the battle controls.

"Heartless!"

Donald called out to them after reading the monitors.

"YES! This is what we've been waiting for!"

Sora leapt up to the controls on the other side of the ship. He laughed as he activated them and they started to charge. Riku smiled and did the same. When the panels of the ship opened and they were trust out in the tiny ships, Sora and Riku both stared at the massive heartless army behind them. The things appeared in hordes, and hovered menacingly behind their pray. It took only a few seconds but it felt to the two as though it took years for the heartless to begin open fire. Shots flew every which way and giant drill machines rocketed towards the tiny ships.

"Whoa! Watch it!"

Sora jerked the controls downwards to avoid one of the drill heartless while Riku blasted the thing.

"Better be careful Sora. I can't watch your back and mine!"

Riku laughed excitedly, teasing Sora. Sora straightened up and smiled back to him.

"Right. Try to keep up!"

He raced forward blasting the heartless. Each exploded into beautiful works and scattered the rest. Donald and Goofy in the gummy ship continued their assault while trying to escape, and Riku and Sora rounded around the heartless as if they were part of a rodeo round up.

"Yahoo!"

Sora called avoiding a bomb heartless. He nearly collided with Riku in the process and Riku had to dive to avoid the collision.

"Hey! Watch it cow boy or we'll be mash!"

Riku laughed and flew right into a group heartless, causing them to disperse.

The two continued their onslaught of the emotionless heartless. They thought they were ahead until an enormous blue lighting strike hit the gummy ship and set if flying off course.

"WOAH! What happened?"

Riku flew up next to Sora as they raced after the gummy ship. But before Sora could answer him their ships were both halted into a dead stop. Something had grabbed them by the backs of the tiny ships. They swiveled around to see and enormous blue heartless with a death grip on their ships.

"We better get out of here!"

Sora turned back to the controls and tried to short burst the ship away from the heartless. But it was useless. The heartless pulled them both up and flung them through space and way off course. Their ships flew and spun uncontrollably, causing their pilots to be flung around the cabins. Understandably they screamed and tried to grab a hold of anything to steady themselves. In the end they couldn't and both were racing through space completely blinded and out of control.

Slowly and painfully Sora opened his eyes. He was lying under the control panel in his broken and damaged ship. At first he didn't move. There was a lot of pain in his neck and back, and the ship was dark. Light leaked in through the windows, but it didn't reach him. He shook his head, trying to rid himself of the pain and remove the pressure, then he tried to get up. There were wires binding him to the ship. He squirmed, but he couldn't free himself.

"Hello!? Is any one there!?"

He called out hoping against all hope that there was someone there. He heard someone or something skitter around the side of the ship, and he felt tense for a moment.

"Sora!?"

It was Riku. Sora breathed a sigh of relief as he heard Riku jump up onto the ship and climb through a window.

"Riku. I'm down here!"

Sora called up to him. He waited a minute then Riku's feet appeared and they walked over to the front. He knelt down and smiled.

"Well this is quite the bind you've found yourself in now isn't it?"

He laughed. Sora glared at him and squirmed more.

"Will you just get me out of this thing!?"

Still laughing Riku reached down and started to pull the wires from Sora. When he was finished he pulled Sora out from under the dash board.

"Well I see you made it out ok."

Sora snapped at Riku. Riku stopped laughing, though he still had a smile on his face.

"Not quite. Some of the wires on my ship cut into my arm here."

Riku showed Sora a patch on his arm that had a makeshift bandage across it. He shook his arms out and brushed himself off, still looking at Sora.

"So what now?"

Sora asked him, doing much of the same. Riku stood and shrugged. He walked over to one of the broken windows and climbed out.

"I guess we go into the town over there."

Riku pointed to a town not far away as Sora climbed out after him. The two jumped down and landed, both falling over from the twist they had just been in. They stood up again and started off for the towns.

"Where do you think we are?"

Sora folded his hands behind his neck as he spoke. Riku shrugged again and shook his arms out again.

"I don't know. It looks familiar though. Maybe we've been here before."

They continued to the towns along the dirt road. Neither spoke after that, both waiting for a sign as to where they were. When at last they came upon the town there were iron gates and above them were the words,

"TRAVERS TWON!"

Sora unfolded his hands from behind his head and held them excitedly.

"We have been here Riku! This is where lion and the others were when the worlds were destroyed years ago! Come on!"

Leading the way in his excitement, Sora took off. Riku wasn't far behind, though his memories of that world were far from pleasant.

"So do you think they are here then?"

He asked as he came up on Sora. They ran side by side all the way up to the village.

"I'm not sure. Last time I saw them they were in Hallow Bastian."

They slowed to a stop when they came to the square. Life was buzzing. People were roaming about doing this and that, and everything seemed peaceful.

"Maybe we should ask someone."

Riku suggested. Sora nodded and looked around for someone that didn't seem too busy. He spotted a girl not far away sitting in the café. She was kind of pretty, but more importantly she looked interruptible. He walked up to her from behind and was about to tap her shoulder when she suddenly stood and turned around. Once again things seemed to happen in slow motion. Sora had a few seconds to realize he was reaching for the base of her neck where a beautiful sapphire tear necklace hung, but to him it felt like forever. She opened her eyes and saw him only to gain a startled look across her own face. The second Sora touched her necklace everything sped back up into normal time and he burst into small trailed white stars. Riku raced over just as Sora disappeared. He saw the girl sitting on the ground and shaking. She was evidently startled by all that had just happened. She looked up at him for a moment, mumbled apologetically, then stood and raced off. Riku didn't peruse her. He was looking for Sora.

"SORA!"

He called out to no one. He started to race around calling out to Sora. Not paying attention he ran right into someone's back. He stumbled backwards and the other person stumbled forwards. Riku straightened up and shook his head, rubbing the back of it before looking down at the other person.

"Oh I'm….. Roxas!?"

He stared in shock as the boy stood up brushing off. It was Roxas. He was here…. Alone… without Sora…..

"Riku! Good someone who can tell me what's going on here. Why am I here? Where is Sora?"

Roxas brushed himself off and looked at Riku. Riku only stared at him in shock.

"I have no idea. If you aren't in him then…… that girl. With the pendant! Come on!"

Realization dawned on Riku. He turned around and raced back towards the town square.

"What are we doing?"

Roxas raced after him trying to keep up.

"I'm not sure, but we have to find that girl!"


	3. The Lost, the Discovered, and the Dead

Chapter 3: The Lost, the Discovered, and the dead

They spent hours scouring the town and joining places for any sign of the girl. They hand spent hours lurking in different crowds, asking for directions, and getting themselves more and more mixed up. Without a name it was almost hopeless.

"Who knew there were a million girls in Travers Town with brown hair and a blue necklace!"

Riku was exasperated. Roxas hurried along beside him, half panting from the run they'd just had, and watching around for any sign of her.

"What did she look like again?"

Riku sighed and stopped, forcing Roxas to leap backwards before crashing into him. He took one look around and then looked down at Roxas.

"She has brown hair, neon blue eyes, a blue tear shaped necklace, and jeans. The T-shirt she wore came to about half way down her stomach, and she had a silver arm band."

"Well that's specific enough."

Roxas snorted as he peeked around the corner of a building. If they were ever going to find her they needed more help then they had. Continuing on in their hopeless search, a bark caught their attention. Pluto, the king's loyal dog, came barking around the corner in hot pursuit of someone. The woman was carrying a large brown shopping bag and seemed terror stricken as she bolted from the growling dog. Roxas, of course, looked on in wonder at the scene as they got closer and closer. He raised an eyebrow at Pluto and was just about to stoop down and call to him to get him to stop. Riku, however, recognized the girl immediately, and pulled Roxas to his feet.

"Let him be. That's her."

Pluto bounded after the girl, and she ran like the hounds from Hades were on her tail. Roxas stood to the side and glared at the ground, not sure it was ok to let Pluto just herd her around like that. And she pelted on, until she collided with Riku. The two went toppling over, Riku making sure to avoid that pendant around her neck. When they landed Riku sat back, barely propped up on his elbows, and the girl lay in a jumbled mess over his midsection. He shook his head then glared down at her. With out pity or grace he shoved her off him, stood up, grabbed the front of her shirt, and dragged her up with him.

"Where's Sora?! What sis you do to him you witch!?"

He shook her, a bit more violently than he had meant to. He had just regained his best friend, and he wasn't about to lose him again. The girl looked at him with milky eyes and gaping mouth for just a moment before she hung limp in his grasp; dazed and scared her body had given into the unconscious world.

"No!"

Riku threw her down at the ground, giving Roxas a spares few seconds to catch her. She laid there, limp and unresponsive in his arms. He looked up from her to Riku, glaring with just a hint of fear at his friend. He had never seen Riku behave like this before.

"Riku calm down. From how you described it, it was a total accident. What if you had hurt her and she had no longer been able to tell us where Sora went?"

Riku scoffed at him. He simply would not admit that he had done wrong.

"Come on. You came here in a gummi ship right? We gotta get out of here and figure this out."

"Yea we came in the tini ships. But they were totally trashed when we landed."

Roxas stood up with the girl in his arms and headed off towards the landing site. They ignored the groceries that were now scattered among the remains of the tattered bag, and Pluto bounded along at their heals.

"Well we'll just have to fix one then."

Riku glanced at Roxas for only a moment, then hurried to catch up.

What they found when they reached the ships shocked them almost as much as a cow falling from the sky would shock and person not on drugs. Riku had led the way back to the ships, quietly discussing what sort of things they should be asking the girl about, and a small fight that Roxas won on who was going to ask the questions and how.

But at the ships, the met an unexpected and very familiar face. There, sitting on the back blasters, was Axel. Or as close to Axel as anyone could be. He sat with one leg propped against the side of the ship and the other dangling lazily. He had on jeans and a silver T-shirt, black fingerless gloves, sneakers, and his hair looked as if someone had attempted to comb it back a bit. In one had he held a sea-salt ice cream, and the other he leaned back on. The whole feel of him radiated just like Axel had done, and Roxas almost dropped the girl when he saw all this.

"Yo!," Axel look-a-like spoke and saluted like Axel had, "Long time no see! Fixed your ship for you! Hope you don't mind! She's not perfect, but she'll fly."

He leapt off the ship, kneeling for a moment before standing and admiring his handy work. Riku summoned his key blade, crouching and ready to strike, but Roxas handed the girl off to him and slowly started walking forward.

"Axel?"

"Roxas."

The two regarded each other, Roxas with an awestruck dumb look on his face, and Axel with a sleek grin across his.

"Axel!"

Roxas continued on forward, high-fived, then clasped hands as if they were making a promise like they used to.

"But….. How..?"

"How am I here? Dunno, things work out funny like that some times."

"I find it hard to believe that you just poof viola-ed here to help us."

Riku walked up and interjected, looking down at the girl in his arms. Axel just continued grinning and shook his head. Roxas glared at him for ruining the moment.

"Yea you would wouldn't you Riku? But I've been here for a while. Things are fine now that I can't get back to the world that never was. Dunno how I got here or how long I've been here, but I know your ships when I saw 'em, so I figured I'd fix this one up. I've got nothing else to do. So who you got there?"

He walked the short distance over and looked down at the now pale girl. His eyes narrowed and he backed away a bit.

"Now why do you want her?"

Roxas joined them and Riku look suspiciously at Axel.

"What do you mean by that?"

Axel shrugged at Riku.

"She's sort of the town outcast. No one knows much about her, not that many stay here long enough to know much about anything. But I do know that she has been here longer than I have, and she has no plans of going any where else."

"How about a name."

Roxas and Riku spoke at the same time with the same solemness. Axel in response lowered his head and raised and eyebrow.

"Minami."


	4. Away We Go!

Travel on the tini ship was both unnerved and suffocating. There were only three of them, but with one unable to stand or move at all, and the other two trying to manage everything, the space was just too limited. Most of the time Roxas sat away from Riku in a small backseat with the girl laying across him. She hadn't moved or woken up since they had left.

With a sigh Roxas lifted his head onto one of his hands. He had grown bored with her since he finished looking her over. He would've gladly given up the star gazing and babysitting to pilot the ship instead, but he was afraid of what Riku might do. So instead he kept his mouth shut and looked out the paneled shield at the passing stars.

With nothing else to do but steer the ship, Riku felt antsy and the job became nerve wracking. They should've been attacked by now, or at least seen some heartless. But the space before, around, and behind them was clean and clear. With a grunt of frustration and a sour look he dove into his thoughts about what had happened before they left.

"_Well from the sounds of it Minami is a regular Namine. She sounds sort of fishy to me, but what reason would she have had to get rid of Sora?"_

_Axel rubbed the back of his head nervously and stared hard at Roxas' feet. Riku and Roxas stood after their explanation with curiosity and agitation in their thoughts and movement. They both wanted answers from Axel since he had clearly been here for a long time, but as the breeze blew through, and the bustle of the city grew lazier, the three of them slowly lost the will to puzzle it out._

_Axel was the one to break the silence. He dropped his hand to his side and smiled as he looked up at the unlikely companions. With a light hearted sigh and a slight shake of the head he made a shooing motion with his free hand._

"_Come on you two. Travers town is a place of passing and resting, not for staying and living. You should take her and get going. If anyone asks I'll clear things up for you."_

"_But Axel, aren't you-"_

"_I," Axel took a moment's pause as he interrupted Roxas," Am going to stay here a bit longer. It's rather peaceful here, and there are always new faces. No one stays long enough to ask questions except that girl you got there, so I feel it's safe here. I'll gather my strength in that safety a bit longer before I fight the life long fight again. You three get going!"_

_He waved his hand at them and the ship. Riku grinned and happily leapt up onto the ship, sliding the girl in the back seat none too gently, and strapping into the drivers seat himself. Roxas took a moment before he let out a defeated sigh. Smiling at Axel he too leapt into the ship, slid the girl into one seat, and belted into the one beside her._

_Watching the engines fire up with a smirk on his face Axel pelted out of the way to get clear before the ship took off. He caught sight of Roxas leaning at the window and raised a hand to salute; Riku watched with a careless eye at the whole thing, and hit the boosters as soon as was safe to._

With a glass shattering screech Riku was torn out of his not to distant memories and back into the cramped gummi ship. His seat was shaking, and the ship was rocking like a sumo wrestler was jumping around in the back seat.

"Hey! What's going on back there?!"

Riku unbelted himself and crouched over the back of the seat. What he saw nearly sent him in hysterics. Squirming in the back seat, held in barely by belts, and furious was Roxas. The girl was pounding on the glass, and wailed every time Roxas got free and wrenched her back into the seat. They would struggle for a moment, then she would get a hand or a foot free and pound him either across the face, the back of the head, or in a not so nice place, and when he curled or temporarily relaxed, she'd force him back into the seat and belt as many belts in as confusing of pattern around him. After the last bout, Riku was clutching his side in laughter. The girl was as far away from both of them as she could get, and Roxas glared at Riku.

"Well I see you're finally joining us Riku! Thanks for all the help!"

You could practically see the seething energy flowing off Roxas and boring into Riku. He just shook his head with a smile, and leapt over the back of his seat completely. He stood between Roxas and the girl, barely and gape for him to stand straight, and grinned at the girl.

"Come on you've caused enough trouble. Settle down, we're not going to hurt you."

"That's what your little friend over there said! Then he strapped me to the seat when I tried to get out of his lap!"

The girl thrust a finger in Roxas' direction accusingly. He had finally unbelted himself again and was starting to stand up.

"That's because you started getting up! With Riku not paying attention, and heartless plotting something, how was I supposed to know it would be alright to move about?! If you hadn't noticed I was already strapped in and so was Riku!"

It was clear to Riku that Roxas had had enough of dealing with her. And he couldn't be blamed at all. There was just something about her that unsettled the both of them, and they couldn't pin point it.

"Come on. Just sit down. No one will bother you while we are in here, so just calm down. Roxas you pilot for a while."

And he happily jumped over the seat to grab the controls, ignoring the belts entirely. Riku held out a hand to the girl and stepped back into Roxas' old seat. Sitting he prayed she'd do the same so he didn't have to force her. He watched her out of the corner of his eye, and when she sat down he turned his attention to her.

"So what's your name?"

He already knew of course, but he need to talk to her, gain her trust. They needed to find Sora and figure out what the King needed quick, or the consequences would be severe. The girl just looked at him sideways with an air of defiance. For a moment he was afraid she would start up again, but then she sighed and spoke calmly.

"Minami. Though isn't it polite to introduce ones self before asking the name of another?"

Riku grinned at her. He had won, and now it would definitely be easier to get into that thick head of hers. He put his hand on his chest and bowed his head in a sort of mock politeness.

"Riku at your service. And currently piloting our humble ship is Roxas."

She eyed them both as he offered up their names, irritation in her look. She shook her head at the both of them and leaned out towards Riku, one hand on her chest.

"Why am I here? Why did you take me from my home? I didn't do anything to you!"

Riku growled a bit when she said that last. He grabbed her wrist and forced her down into the seat. She looked shocked at him, and because of that he caught himself and let her back. He still kept hold of her wrist.

"Listen, I know you remember meeting my friend and I, and I know you recognize that Roxas isn't who I was with when we first met. I won't hurt you, you can stop squirming." She had started to struggle against his iron grip, pushing at his hand to let go of hers. "All I want is your help getting my friend back you got it? You sent him away some how and you'll get him back."

He threw her arm out of his and she fell against the back of the seat. In his anger, he realized, he'd nearly broken her wrist. A bruise welted up around it, and he found he'd even left finger marks. That was probably why she squirmed, but he refused to admit his wrong doing to her. That was twice in one day he'd done damage just because he didn't know where his best friend was, and he was now determined to leave it behind him. Or else, he was sure, they would never find Sora.

"I'm sorry……."

His eyes widened as he heard the small coo from beside him. He turned and found her curled away from him, nursing her wrist. For a moment he watched her, confusion across his face, then he let it fall into a small smile and shook his head.

"We both should be. I'm sorry too. I got a bit upset when Sora disappeared because we just found each other. He's my best friend and-"

He cut himself off when he saw her tremble and relax. Curiously he looked around her, and found her eyes shut and her breathing small and even. Again he smiled and turned away.

"And away we go."

Riku grinned as Roxas spoke back to him. The boosters hit full power, and the ship lurched forward into the space between worlds.


End file.
